When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/30/2018
Weather: Mid 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• I like to walk clockwise.  With all of the construction, this has been difficult to do in a satisfactory way.  Today, I was grateful for the fragments of my original walk I was able to assemble.  Besides the noted blocked sidewalk and closed sidewalk that wraps around the park, the alternate path (that happened to be a road)  had some additional construction challenges.  Somebody had AT&T in front of their house with 2 vehicles parked on the street taking up one lane.  The road travel was also hampered as a construction crew was burrowing around with equipment.  As a walker, it was just another hazard.  The distance between the road and the fence (donkeys and Longhorns were on the other side of the fence) gave me a few yards to play with as the equipment infringed on my space.
• This walk was really not very exciting today.  No golfer or friendly walkers.  Do I even need to mention how un-friendly most bicyclists are?  Was I to walk with headphones on, I might not look around and see things others had dropped.   Today, I think someone was studying for some sort of math test.  I would assume they were walking while they were studying, but they may have been in the back of a pickup when the wind wanted the study card more than they did.  Their note was on a washed out green 3′ x 5′ notecard.  The answer was “additive inverse” the other side had,  “the opposite of a number, a + (-a) = 0 “.  My wife was a math major.  She can’t remember what field of math this is in.  Hopefully, the person who lost their card realized it and didn’t miss it on the test.

I was disappointed there was not more to see or experience today.  I can just control being physically present.  The randomness of others peoples lives will not always be there when I am ready to view it.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/29/2018
Weather: Mid 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

I didn’t think I was going to get a walk in today.  I stalled for a bit after getting home from work.  Then, I had the expectation I would drop the car off to get its new tires tomorrow.  I just expected it to be too busy and crowded.  Fortunately, they were slow.  This gave me the opportunity to wait.  Should I have left the car and picked it up tomorrow, I would not have witnessed the actual time being nearly double the estimated time.  My wife was able to continue her best efforts to work from home.  If I have a book (a Kindle definitely counts), I can usually fend for myself pretty well.

• Boomerang:  The darn sidewalk construction continues to create encounters I might not otherwise have the pleasure of experiencing.  As I walked toward the most recent construction addition, a couple plodded along ahead of me.  I was nearing a “passing” range when they hit the construction.  Not wanting to risk walking the construction zone, they turned around and headed back at me.  Shortly after, I did a similar turnaround.  My stride was long and rapid.  I caught them pretty quickly.  As I came upon their left, I gave them the courtesy “On your left” so they would know I was not attempting to startle them.  The husband acknowledged me in a friendly way.  I replied, “Kind of a boomerang walk with the path being closed.”  His reply recognized my stride was a little quicker than he and his wife.  My response was a little tragic, “It is not my intent to walk so fast, but maybe that is why my wife doesn’t walk with me.”
• Fore:  The other boomerang part of my walk took me toward the closed park.  As I neared the orange warning fence, a couple young men with clubs were on my right–golf clubs.  They didn’t invite me into a conversation. I just decided I wanted to.  They had 15 – 20 golf balls in front of them.  They hit the balls straight ahead over the trees.  They let me know they never seem to hit the ball very well when anyone else is watching.  While I was watching and when I walked away, I saw a whiff, and I heard a couple balls that appeared to be grass burners.  (Or, maybe reed burners–they didn’t have much air under them.)  The guy (he claimed to be a swimmer) who had the whiff said, “It is my job to make him [the other guy] look good.”  I replied to him in what I hope was a friendly way, “You are going to have to try harder to be bad enough to make him look good.”    I enjoyed the conversation.  I am not sure if they did.  They did claim they recovered 80-90% of the balls each time they hit into the trees/dried-up-swampy area.  Based on what I was seeing, the recover ratio might be a little less with the most recent set of balls.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/28/2018
Weather: Mid 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• Traffic cop II:  Today’s walk was similar to yesterdays.  I reversed my modified walk.  The walk ended up feeling more like my old walk–the views were the same and I was on the same side of the road.  The darn construction!!  As I came to the source of my contempt, 2 surprised bicyclists came up behind me.  They were rather dismayed by the closed path.  I tried to reassure them how they could “find” their path from there.  Another bicyclist came along as I was explaining.  I believe he led them along to where my abbreviated directions tried to get them.  As I went East and they went West, I didn’t know if our paths with cross again.  Our paths did not truly cross.  They crossed the street at the light a couple of minutes ahead of me.  They either got briefly lost or they rode slowly.  Alternatively, I may just walk fast…
• The fence is down:  While I honored the orange safety fence today, some other(s) did not.  During my walk, I saw an older woman walking very resolutely along a path that easily could have made her the guilty party.  For her sake, I hope the older gentlemen was taking a nap today and incapable of giving her the double evil eye.  Given her stride, I don’t think she would have paused for anyone.
• Free-range grubs: The armadillo has been quite active lately.  Today, he was searching the grass again attempting to find the grubs with just the right flavor.  Never having eaten any grubs, I don’t know what makes for a more satisfying grub.  If eating them outside of the drip zone of a tree makes them tastier to the average armadillo, then may he dine well…just maybe more often at night where he won’t scare the children or startle the adults.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/27/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• Reverse Walk (Walking Backwards):  With the construction on my paths and due to the eyes that would have incinerated me to ash should I have seen him again, I decided to walk my normal walk in reverse.  “Normal” is not quite accurate.  The walk did have to be modified.  And, when walking and seeing everything in reverse, new things come to light.  You see squirrel and bird’s nest you wouldn’t see.  When going the other direction on some roads, you see ditches and yards almost completely unknown to you when walking the other direction.  It is good to have variety, but I am looking forward to the old familiar becoming the norm again.
• More Armadillo:  The armadillo must have come out of hibernation again.  He was foraging around again.  His opportunities did not look good, but yet he persists in trying.  He may even have wandered over to our yard recently.  Our flower bed must have been growing some grubs awaiting his pleasure.
• Traffic Cop:  Again, as I came toward the home stretch, I had to help avoid a collision.  A family of 4 was on the path–the parents were walking and the kids were on a bike and a scooter.  As the younger brother was trying to catch his sister, he went to the left of me.  I saw the bicyclist coming along rapidly toward us.  A few times, I said, “Son, son, you must get over.”  He eventually he did get over.  As soon as he did, the bicyclist went by and blew our shirts up with the wind he created.

I finished the walk the way I usually do.   Walking the same direction I normally do helped me recover from any remaining uncomfortableness the exercise created.  Really, it was barely disconcerting at all.  I just am getting old and like whining.  Until my path opens up again, I sometimes lose control of my whiney self.

When:  Could not make it happen, 1/26/2018
Weather: High 50’s with clouds
Observations/Thoughts

These 6 AM – 2 PM hours are very difficult for me.  My ability to end the day well typically depends on whether or not I get a late afternoon nap.  This week there were fewer days without naps than days with them.  With my 40 hours behind me this week and a busy day volunteering at a robotics qualifying event (my youngest daughter is very involved at her school), I was certain a nap would serve me well.  My nap and walk needed to fit in around my modified schedule today–I was meeting with a salesman to get an estimate for a new roof.  Once he left, I considered taking a walk. My droopy eyes won out.  I lay down to read with full anticipation a nap would come over me quickly.  (I did set an alarm to prevent excessive sleeping.)

After I woke, I planned to walk.  it was not going to be a long walk.  I just like to make a daily effort to do some amount of walking.  As I considered the walk, the mist, the dark, and my growing ambivalence worked against me.  I decided to sit on the couch and just finish my book.  Another day to remind me not all walks involve movement.

When:  Late-afternoon, 1/25/2018
Weather: High 60’s with blue skies
Observations/Thoughts

Due to work issues, I was at work later than expected.  Then, I made a stop at Sprouts–our local farmers market.  All of this on the way to getting my daughter for her doctor appointment.  The day was so nice, I could not with a clear conscious NOT walk.  Remarkably, the last 1/2 mile of the walk was the most eventful.

• Crazy Old Man:  At the time I walked, it was very close to 5:00.  All of the work crews working on the parts of my path that were under construction had left for the day.  I decided I was brave enough to remove the little piece of wire that allowed the orange fencing to block my path.  The path was mostly okay.  There were just a few obstacles to easily overcome.  The rest of the walk was not a problem…or not until I returned to go the opposite direction on the path.  As I prepared to re-enter the construction zone, there was an older gentleman standing to my left.  He was anxious to meet me.  He had his hat on and was just staring at me.  As I came upon him, I stated, “They really messed things up, didn’t they?”  I waited for his response.  I then said, “Are you okay, sir?”  I just kept walking.  When I had walked past him, he turned and walked back toward his house.  (There was a fence between us.)  When I told my daughter about this, she commented, “If it were me, I would have been freaked out.  If I were you, it probably would not have bothered me either.”  I think he was trying to guilt me so much I would have turned around.  I am usually not a rule-breaker.  For some reason, this didn’t bother me at all.
• Russians Dog Walkers: I have seen these folks before.  It was a husband and a wife with their larger dog.  As our paths were near crossing, they were walking south on my side of the path.  They gradually migrated to the left side.  (Their right side.)  As I passed them, they were speaking a foreign language.  I am not sure, but I am pretty sure it had some of the sounds I associate with Russian.  With a mind having been the victim of too many spy books, I can’t help but imagine the couple taking a walk to do some spy related thing.  It is doubtful they were doing anything clandestine.  It sure is fun imagining it though.
• Drone:  The adult son of the family with a couple of the barkingest dogs along my path was flying his drone today.  He didn’t seem to be doing anything for a foreign government.  His sole purpose was, apparently, to fly the drone as high as possible.  A distant secondary purpose may have been spending some quality time with his attention-starved puppies.

When:  Early-afternoon, 1/24/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with blue
Observations/Thoughts

Today’s walk was not canceled, but my whole heart was not in it.  The previous evening I had put some dried pinto bean into a bowl of water.  The beans were ready for the next part of their adventure.  In the past when trying to make refried beans, I had used the pressure cooker.  Today, I put the beans on the stove with a lid.  I was letting the beans simmer.  Yet, I still wanted to take a walk.  Leaving a pan on the stove when not in the house is like leaving the water running in the sink when you are not in the room.  There is always the fear you might get distracted and the worst could happen.  As I chose my walking path, I attempted to balance effective against rapid.  The striding time was uneventful with the exception of a couple of dogs and their masters.

When I got home, the beans were not burnt and doing fine.  The ended up simmering on the stove for nearly 2 hours.  It was quite worth it.  They were certainly my best-refried beans ever.  My daughters appreciated them too.  One of my next goals is to come up with a good Spanish rice.   I also need to stop cutting corners and take a “real” walk again!

When:  Early-afternoon, 1/23/2018
Weather: High 50’s with blue
Observations/Thoughts

• In search of a new path:  With the park closed for reformatting/reshuffling and the sidewalk closed going the other direction to repair drainage issues, I am trying to find a new temporary path.  To accomplish this, I took quite a few yo-yo paths.  (Paths that had forced about-faces when the path was blocked.)  Walking the neighborhood usually, doesn’t have much entertainment.  To be inspired, you need to see interesting things.  My neighbors are safe but boring.
• Cayenne:  On one of my yo-yo paths today, I did walk thru another neighborhood.  A woman was in her front yard with a seasoning container.  She was shaking it over flower beds.  I yelled from across the street, “Cayenne?”  She replied, “Yes.  It is the only thing that keeps the animals away.  I have to redo it every time after it rains.” My thoughts immediately assumed it was armadillos.  “A spoon full of cayenne keeps the armadillos away, armadillos away…”  Grubs must lose some of their appeal when overly seasoned.  And, if inviting an armadillo for dinner, err on the side of bland.

When:  Early-afternoon, 1/22/2018
Weather: High 50’s with blue some smoky skies
Observations/Thoughts

It was a perfect day to walk.  It was slightly cooler than yesterday.  What was going to stop me from enjoying it?  My path was altered because the path was closed in two places–for drainage issues and to improve the park.  As I started my walk around the neighborhood, the other factor was hard to clear from my mind.  When I got home from work, the upstairs sink had slobbered excessively.  Even though the water was turned off in the sink, it still decided to spit up obnoxiously while I was at work.  The spitting was collecting and visible on the first-floor ceiling.  After starting my walk, I was worried something might happen while I was gone–the bucket catching the drippings could fall off the ladder OR the dripping at the sink upstairs could elevate its output.

I shortened the walk to ease my mind.  All appeared fine at home.  Unfortunately, after dinner, water was dripping slowly out of a vent in the ceiling.  I rushed upstairs immediately and tightened the knob to make sure it was entirely off.  (Lefty loosey; rightzy tightzy) . As I prepare to go to bed, I am planning on checking the bucket under the sink tonight AND again tomorrow morning.  Assuming it is not collecting “sink drool”, I will relax slightly.  Regardless, a plumber will be a guest in our house soon.

When:  Early-aftenoon, 1/21/2018
Weather: Mid 60’s with cloudy skies
Observations/Thoughts

I was glad to walk with my wife today.  The over-abundance of steps over the past few days made a long walk today optional.  I would have been glad to walk right after church.  To get the chance to walk with my wife, I left my schedule open to her inner inklings.  She said, “Yes, to the walk.” around 1:00.  We felt a few sprinkles as we wondered purposefully through our neighborhood.  I asked about this; she asked about that.  As we neared the end of the walk, we realized the walk either started 10 minutes too late OR we missed our last shortcut.  The sprinkles became completely undodgeable as I broke into a brisk walk. My wife just covered her head and walked it out.  We finished the walk together.  As I am writing this, I am quite grateful we didn’t wait until now to walk–it is pouring out!